Three men including two soliders charged with being members of banned neo-Nazi group National Action

A National Action march in August 2015. The group was banned under terrorism laws in December 2016. - PA Wire/PA Images

Three men, including two British soldiers, have been charged with terror offences as part of an investigation into the banned neo-Nazi group National Action.

Five men, including four soldiers, were held on suspicion of terror offences last week and two have since been released without charge. West Midlands Police said Alexander Deakin, 22, Mikko Vehvilainen, 32, and Mark Barrett, 24, have been charged with being members of a proscribed organisation contrary to Section 11 of the Terrorism Act.

Deakin and Vehvilainen have also been charged with possessing documents likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism and other offences.

Deakin faces another charge of distribution of a terrorist publication and a separate charge of inciting racial hatred including concerning National Action stickers posted at Aston University campus in Birmingham in July last year.

Vehvilainen is also charged with publishing material which is threatening, abusive or insulting, posting comments on a website intending to stir up racial hatred, and possessing pepper spray.

File image: members of now-banned neo-Nazi organisation National Action demonstrate in Bolton last DecemberCredit: Joel Goodman/LNP

Police said: "The arrests were pre-planned and intelligence-led and there was no risk to the public's safety."

The three men will appear before Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

The force said a man from Northampton and another from Ipswich, both aged 24, were released without charge on Saturday following inquiries.

National Action is described by the Home Office as "virulently racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic."

It became the first far-Right group banned by the Government after it glorified the murder of Jo Cox MP. It was banned under terrorism laws in December 2016.

Police said 22 suspected members or associates of National Action were arrested last year.

The proscription means that being a member of or inviting support for the organisation is a criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to 10 years' imprisonment.